Band of the Month: Lola Tried

Singer and bandleader Lauren Burton talks women in rock ‘n’ roll, sneaking into shows, and the band’s full-length album

By Bryan C. Parker

Published: June 12, 2018

Photo courtesy KUTX

Two days into their most ambitious tour yet, a three-week jaunt that traverses 11 states in the Midwest and Northeast, Lola Tried’s central force Lauren Burton takes time out after just arriving in Oklahoma City to field an interview call. As we talk, she’s upbeat and enthusiastic, speaking with a quick decisiveness. Touring on the heels of the release of its self-titled full-length album, Lola Tried has solidified as a band over the last three years and has just begun to hit its stride. On the album’s single, “Bummertown,” powerful guitars rip through melodic riffs as Burton shifts between singing sweetly and growling ferociously. At other times, the record harnesses lighter tones and garage pop sensibilities backed by earnest lyricism.

Lola Tried by Lola Tried

The first time I saw Burton she was impossible to miss, even though she wasn’t on stage. At a Giant Dog show at Spider House Ballroom in 2014, Burton rocked out as hard as I’ve ever seen someone rock out, her red hair swirling as she screamed along to all the lyrics. Born to a father who is a hobbyist drummer, she says, “I’ve always been into music because my dad’s always been into music.” After being given a bass guitar by her uncle at age 13 while living in Kentucky, Burton says she knew she “wanted to make songs.” But it wasn’t until she moved to Austin as a junior in high school that she discovered what it meant to be a part of a music community. Her mother played a role with South by Southwest, facilitating the arrival of international bands playing the festival, and the singer found herself coming into contact with artists from all over the world.

A few years later, Burton fell head first into Austin’s rock ‘n’ roll scene. “When I turned 18, I started seeing A Giant Dog,” she remembers. She couldn’t get into many of the venues they played, since they were 21-and-up, but Burton says, “Sabrina [Ellis] would actually sneak me into Hotel Vegas and have me just sit in a corner.” She makes sure to add that she didn’t drink at all at the time. She says just getting to see the show “was the best thing.” These experiences also made her want to pay forward the favor and cemented her deep love of the support system of women in her local scene. Burton says that Ellis “being willing to literally take me by the hand and expose me to her world was something that I loved and that inspired me to get moving on my own music.”

Soon after, Burton began playing music under the moniker Wicker, her middle name. Eventually, the band switched to the name Lola Tried and added members Ray Flynt on drums, Greg Spencer on bass, and Roy Garza on guitar. Now a full-fledged indie rock outfit, the group recorded their first EP using material Burton had written.

“It was the muscles and the skeleton, and then they just put skin on top of it,” she says. She pauses before reflecting on her metaphor, “That’s kinda gross…I’m reading a book about the history of cadavers.”

With its full-length album, the group moved to a more collaborative process. Although Burton confesses that she’s “always been afraid to co-write songs,” she's recently learned to lean on her band more. “We actually fleshed it out and worked as a band to put it together,” she explains, adding that the process made the songs more dynamic. Of everything she’s learned from the experience of recording her first full album, the singer says the most important lesson has been “how to double down” and be confident and firm without “seeing [herself] as rude or demanding.” Burton adds, “when you’re a woman and you make a record, society has kind of brought us up to be open to all ideas, but with a record, that can kind of screw you over, because your own ideas get covered up.”

Guided by that newfound confidence, Burton and Lola Tried have set out to carve up the American countryside on tour while bringing Austin indie rock to the world. She says she owes much of that to the women who inspired her, citing Ellis, Kana Harris (Xetas), and Sheena Ozzella (Lemuria). Burton is always “watching and taking notes” from “women who are a couple of years older that are more established.” Ultimately, she sees a goal bigger than music and bigger than one band, saying, “I’m proud of the voice that we collectively have given ourselves to take the reins back from the boy’s club of music.”